‘Disruptive innovation interrupts established ways of thinking, diverges from traditional practices and proposes new, unexpected ideas.’ Deyan Sudjic, Design Museum Director

Returning for a seventh year and on a larger scale than ever before, Designers in Residence 2014 invites four up-and-coming designers to take over a gallery in the Design Museum and fill it with their most disruptive ideas.

The Designers in Residence are James Christian, Ilona Gaynor, Torsten Sherwood and Patrick Stevenson-Keating. Each has responded to the theme of ‘disruption’ with a specially developed project, showcased for the first time at the Design Museum.

Disrupting housing: By re-examining London’s pre-Victorian slums and the chaotic dwellings that once stood on London Bridge, James Christian develops a series of hypothetical housing models for the city of today. The lives of the housing schemes’ imagined inhabitants are depicted in comic book style illustrations, added to throughout the exhibition’s run.

Disrupting the law: Repositioning the courtroom as a television studio, Ilona Gaynor draws the visitor into a meticulously directed whodunit. Props, drawings, maps and models point to an unknown geometry of legal theatre, exposing the myriad of eccentricities within the judicial system.

Disrupting play: Torsten Sherwood presents an alternative archetype for the construction toy, moving beyond the familiar building brick and offering new possibilities for den builders of all ages. Simple cardboard discs overlap, bend and join to create edges, surfaces and forms in an almost endless array of combinations.

Disrupting finance: Questioning our use of financial technologies, Patrick Stevenson-Keating suggests new metrics by which to measure value. A working cash machine, a new currency and devices for credit card payments explore how economic objects shape society’s broader values.

Designers in Residence 2014 is supported by a series of events including sketching tours, talks, and evening socials.

The Designers in Residence programme provides young designers with time and space to research and consider new ways of developing their work. During the four months leading up to the exhibition, residents discuss their projects with established practitioners, industry experts and residency alumni, as well as with the Design Museum's legal, commercial, learning, development, and curatorial teams. Each resident is offered a bursary, commissioning budget and the production costs required to realise their new commission. Entry for Designers in Residence 2015 opens in September 2014.